One Thing Right
by KatLeePT
Summary: She got one thing right.


"Ack, Rahne, are ye insane, lassie?! Ye can nae be in here!" Moira cries, turning on her adopted daughter after finally giving up trying to get her locked doors to open. She had known she couldn't force them to open any earlier than they were scheduled to do so, but she had had to try. She gazes into the sad, green eyes of the girl who's fighting back tears, remembering when she'd barely been old enough to understand what a simple virus was, and yet now she understands too well what's happening.

She understands, and that's why she's here, staring her defiantly down when she's never been one to stand up to her in the past. They've had their arguments, but there's never been anything this dire to come between them. "Rahne, darlin', if'n ye stay in here, ye'll catch th' virus, too."

Her chin juts out in a habit Moira knows she's picked up from her. The girl can be as stubborn as she is, and she knows it's not simply because of the Scotch blood that runs through both their veins. "Then let me," she says. "I di nae want tae live wit'out ye, Mummy." A sob escapes her as she throws her arms around Moira and hugs her tight. Her head laying on her breast, she murmurs, "If'n I die tae, then at least we gi tae Heaven taegether."

"Ah, Rahne," Moira croons, her arms slipping around her. She couldn't love this girl any more if she was her own flesh and blood, and indeed her bond with Rahne is far sweeter and more loving than any relationship she ever managed to make with her own blood son. He had wanted to kill her and destroy the world, but here, with her arms around her, stands a girl who risks her life for the world around them and for people who don't deserve her geneoristy every day and who truly loves her more than she loves life itself.

"I can nae let ye stay in here, darlin'. As much as ye di nae want tae see me die, I also di nae want tae see ye die."

"Ye said itself, Mummy: This room will nae open 'til ye have a cure for th' virus."

Moira sighs, her head dropping so that her chin rests on the top of Rahne's red head. "Ye have me there, sweetheart. Ye had intentions o' doing this th' whole time, didn't ye?"

"O' course," Rahne says, bristling slightly as she expects more arguing. "I could nae let ye gi wit'out tryin' tae be wit' ye when ye need me th' most. Ye've always been there fer me, Lady Moira. Now let me be here fer ye."

Moira sighs. She knows she has little choice. She made sure there wasn't any other way to open her self-made cage until she had the cure. But her life, such as it is, is worth giving up to find a cure for the Legacy Virus. Rahne's is not.

Rahne pulls her head back just enough that she can look up into Moira's eyes. Her own, green orbs are brimming with tears. "I love ye, Lady Moira."

Moira gazes into Rahne's face so full of love, pleas, and sadness, and she knows she has no choice. Her life is worth sacrificing. She's not done all that awful lot for humans, and she's certainly made messes of a lot of things. She thinks of Charles, Sean, her late husband, and son. She remembers how she suffered at her late husband's hands and how her son almost wiped out all mutantkind. She recalls how determined she was to be the one who put her son down, like he was some kind of sick dog, and then she thinks of the men who stood by her through everything. Even now, she's not certain which one she loves the most, but then she looks again into Rahne's eyes and knows there's at least one thing she got right.

She kisses her daughter's forehead and sighs, relenting at last. "All right, lassie, but then we'd best pick up th' pace." She walks over to the table and picks up the first beaker in a long line. "And, Rahne?"

"Yes, Mummy?" she answers, and again Moira sees the little girl she first took into her home and heart after she'd been so terribly abused by humanity.

She smiles. "I love ye, too."

"Then let's find this cure so we can keep lovin' each other fer a long time tae come."

"Aye." Moira's smile twists up into a grin. Rahne is a great deal like her after all, even if she is a far better heroine than she'll ever be.

The End


End file.
